Heretic's Fork
by The Totem
Summary: While on their intergalactic road trip, the Alien Force gets cornered by some bounty hunters. Ben is defeated and taken to be used a test subject. Meanwhile, his team is desperate to find some kind of lead that will help them find their lost leader. All Ben has to do is hang on long enough to be rescued.
1. Heatblast

Gwendolyn Tennyson gasped as she was grabbed roughly by a titanium-clad hand.

The sorceress whipped her head around and thrashed violently against the many appendages that held her, meeting Sixsix's gaze with a deathly glare. Their old adversary simply snarled ferociously and slammed her into the ground, using his foot to grind her into the foreign dirt of whatever planet they happened upon. Her emerald orbs widened in agony as she screamed, earning a growl from her Osmosian boyfriend.

"Let her go!" the boy roared.

Gwendolyn lifted her head up with much effort, only to see Kevin taking cover from the barrage of attacks from the bounty hunters before them. He was coated head to toe in the chromium from their ship. The Osmosian hung his head in exhaustion before rolling out of the way of an oncoming grenade. He morphed his fists into large hammers and swung blindly, hoping to hit one of the many bounty hunters that had finally managed to catch up to them.

He successfully clocked Vulkanus and Sevenseven hard enough to make them bleed, before finally falling to Sunder and Eighteight.

That left the dynamic duo.

Ben 10, the Hero of Heroes.

Rook Blonko, the Youngest Magister.

The Hero, with his ever-so-cocky smirk, shared a look with the Magister, who nodded. The partners stared down the squad of supervillains before them. Ben, as always, was ready for a fight. Rook, as always, was ready to defend.

Gwendolyn found herself feeling the same exasperated pride she always felt for her heroic cousin, who time and time again managed to save the day through sheer force of will. She had no doubt in her mind that he would save them and that they would be able to continue their road trip through the universe.

Key word; had.

As she and Kevin waited pensively for someone to make the first move, she noticed something behind Sunder's back. A paper with scribbles on it.

Scribbles of the combination used to lock Ben's Omnitrix. Very similar to the sequence Vilgax used all those years ago.

Gwendolyn wanted to scream.

Suddenly, Ben moved first. His hand met the interface of his watch and activated it, causing the holographic dial to pop up. The boy scrolled through his arsenal quickly before settling upon a familiar face. Just as Eighteight was about to shoot at them, his palm pressed down.

Green light brighter than the sun burst from the boy as his DNA twisted and turned into something entirely different. Something new. Something alien.

When the light died down, Heatblast stood with a confident sneer, igniting the flames that threatened to spew from his hands. Beside him, Rook unsheathed his Proto-Tool and swung it out, switching it into its sword form. The bounty hunters were less than impressed.

 **"Heatblast!"** the Pyronite shouted, wasting no time in forming a large ball of flames to throw at his enemies.

Meanwhile, Rook was already engaged in combat with Sunder and Sevenseven. The Magister-ranked Plumber was holding his own surprisingly well for a... well, rookie. He swung his sword at Sunder, who parried the attack with his scythe. Beside him, the female Sotoraggian rushed forward and grabbed the Magister's wrist, twisting it in a painful snap.

The Revonnahgander cried out and dropped his weapon, earning a swift punch to the head. Stumbling back, he ducked and narrowly missed another jab before Sunder's scythe was brought down upon him.

Gwendolyn shielded her eyes and Kevin continued to yell at them in fury.

The Revonnahgader groaned in pain as he lied in the crater the formed around him from the impact, his armor cracked and chipped. He was down for the count. That only left the Hero of Heroes.

Smiling sadistically, Sunder brought his attention to Heatblast, who was closing in on Vulkanus as he increased the intensity of the flames he was dishing out at the Detrovite.

"Sometimes, you guys really make my blood boil." the Pyronite quipped, thrusting one arm out to shoot another stream of flames at Sunder.

However, the Retriever was ready.

Sunder nodded at Vulkanus, who lunged at the Hero and pinned him down. Despite the increasing temperature of the sparks that were coming from him, Ben could do nothing but struggle against the men as Sunder tapped the sequence into his chest, deactivating and disabling the Omnitrix.

Leaving normal, seventeen year old Ben Tennyson.

The boy, with his neon eyes, glanced up at the men who held him. He looked around and saw his friends, fallen and held by his enemies. He brought his gaze down to his Omnitrix, timed out and useless.

And yet, still he wouldn't show fear. Sometimes, Gwendolyn wanted to smack that attitude right out of him.

"Let them go." Ben growled, earning a backhand to the face.

Gwendolyn breathed shakily and desperately wanted to reach out to him.

"You aren't in a position to make demands, hero." Sunder jeered, kneeling before the fallen boy.

Ben met the Retriever's deathly smile with a hardened glare, making that smile grow even wider.

"What do you want with me?" he finally asked. At this, Sunder chuckled.

"Us? Nothing," he began, "We're just paid to bring you back. Alive."

Suddenly, he reeled back. Gwendolyn screeched and Kevin's struggles increased tenfold.

"But they didn't say awake."

As the fist collided with her cousin, jolts of electricity were sent coursing throughout her entire body. She groaned and turned to Kevin with much effort. The Osmosian was down before she could see his raven hair.

The last thing she remembered was her cousin, slung over Sevenseven's shoulder like a limp rag doll.


	2. Diamondhead

When Ben came to, he felt like everything was moving in slow motion. He would lift his head with much difficulty, as if his skull was weighed down with a ten-ton tank. Then his head would snap back as his neck's support gave out, decidedly resting against the metal table of whatever building he was being held in.

He felt like he was going to throw up.

His arms were heavy, far too heavy to lift up and attempt to access his Omnitrix. He could feel metal bands around his wrists, not quite thick enough to conceal the alien watch. His breathing came in labored gasps, lungs burning and inflamed. His legs were numbed and even if he had the strength, he was certain that there were shackles bound tightly around his ankles, preventing him from struggling without the fear of dislocating the balls of his ankles.

His jaw was aching. He was certain that the last blow from Sunder ended up dislocating his jaw. He would have to pop it back into place once the feeling came back to his arms; at least, if he wanted to mouth off whoever it was that put a bounty on his head.

If his blood hadn't already run cold from being unconscious for who knew how long, it certainly did once he fully realized the circumstances of his situation.

He failed. He was unable to defend his team against the agents that had finally caught up to them.

He recalled the way Kevin struggled against his restraints. The way he twisted and convulsed from within Sevenseven's grasp, fighting until his ire was extinguished.

He watched in horror as Rook, his partner and borderline trainee, fell as well, powerless against the combined forces of Eighteight and Sunder.

He stared blankly, black spots dancing around his eyes, as Gwendolyn screamed for him. When the injuries inflicted upon him became too much and he finally gave in.

The image of his strong, almost divine cousin crumbling before him would be burned into his mind for a very long time.

The feeling had finally returned to his arms. The boy flexed his hands in relief and immediately shifted, moving to touch the interface of his watch.

That was when he finally focused his neon eyes on the bare silicon wrist of his current form. Diamondhead.

He slowly began to scan his current body, noting that his normal jumpsuit was torn down the middle. From what little light filled his cell(?), he saw a dark, obsidian fluid dripping down to his-

Oh _god_.

His abdomen was torn apart and wide open, flaps of crystalline skin hanging over the edges of the table. The incision started just below the Omnitrix on his chest and ended a little above the Petrosapian equivalent of a belly button.

The cavity was hollow. There was a deep pit where one's organs should have been.

 _'Do Petrosapians even have the same bodily functions as humans?'_ the silicon-based life form internally mused to himself. _'I've never been in this transformation long enough to find out.'_

Ben mentally slapped himself and swallowed down the oncoming panic attack that threatened to take him from consciousness once more. The blood(?) loss must have really been getting to him if he was more worried about a transformation's biology than the fact that _there was a gaping hole in his body oh my god-_

The Hero's eyes darted to the sliding door as an alien in a silver hazmat suit entered. His sage colored skin stood out against the darkness of the room. Ben made a weak attempt at a glare, resulting in a look that was more like a grimace than anything else.

Techadon Weapon Inspector Number Thirteen chortled, his high-pitched shrieks piercing through the silence of the room (sans the dripping of what the Hero assumed was blood). The weapon master appeared to be holding some containers, one containing a slick, shiny, mint colored kidney-

 _That was his fucking kidney what the fuck-_

And the other containing a rope-like object of the same color. He was carrying around containers full of Petrosapian entrails.

Seeing the Savior of the Universe at a loss for words, Inspector #13 smiled deviously.

"Subject Number Ten is awake. Begin experiment introduction."


	3. Gwendolyn

When Gwendolyn came to, Kevin and Rook were already awake and using the few scanners they still held that hadn't been snatched or destroyed by the Sotoraggian trio. They were searching for anything, from footprints in the dirt to contrails in the sky, that would point them in some sort of direction to their lost teammate.

She screamed.

Upon hearing the distressed screech resonating from his Anodite girlfriend, Kevin rushed over and rubbed soothing circles into her back. The Anodite gasped and turned her head, meeting Kevin's brown eyes with a look of terror.

"Where's Ben?" she breathed as she scrambled to her feet, despite her boyfriend's protests.

She slid herself out of the Osmosian's arms and trudged forward, peering over Rook's shoulder to oversee his attempts to locate Ben's Omnitrix through his Plumber's Badge. With each dejected beep that came from the communicator, Gwendolyn's anxiety spiked tenfold.

Sensing this, Rook tried to whisper calming, reassuring words to her. That Ben was strong. That he was Ben 10, Savior of the Universe. That this was no different than any other time and that they would find him, just as they always did.

She had none of it.

She choked back an oncoming breakdown and finally decided to, despite her weakened state, attempt to track Ben's mana. She'd done it countless times before, even when they were ten and she was completely oblivious to her Anodite heritage. Even when she had yet to tap into her innate magical potential.

She could knew Ben's mana better than anyone else's.

Closing her eyes, the girl took a deep breath and began to 'reach out', in a sense. Putting just enough of herself out into the universe, from the air around them to the ground they stood on. She strained herself to get some kind of scent of Ben, some bit of himself that stayed behind long enough for her to find him.

But after almost ten minutes of meditation, the girl finally gave up. The throbbing pain against her skull became unbearable and she pulled her knees to her chest, hopelessness bubbling in her chest.

"Babe?" the raven-haired boy's voice piped up softly.

She could feel her boyfriend's aura close in on her, chaotic and violent. The Revonnahgander was standing beside him, aura calm and sturdy with waves of distress. She lifted her head and gazed up at the two boys.

"Perhaps if we search for the entity who hired Sunder and the hunters, we will be able to locate Ben." suggested the Revonnahgander, always sweet but to the point.

Kevin nodded, "Rook and I installed a tracker into the Rustbucket in case it ever got stolen. We have enough taydenite pieces to rent a decent enough ship to catch up to them."

The corners of Gwendolyn's mouth began to twitch.

"We will find him, Gwendolyn." Rook assured her.

But what he, Kevin, and Gwendolyn knew was that the longer it took to find Ben, the longer he would be subjected to the nefarious plans of whoever called for the bounty on his head.

* * *

Diamondhead groaned.

The anesthesia was beginning to wear off.

He felt like he was dying.

This was worse than anything he endured before. From jumping into a pit of fire for the Ultimate Aliens to fighting for control over his own mind, he had no doubt that being turned into a Petrosapian diamond mine was at the top of the list. He croaked in agony and lulled his head to the side to meet the scientist's deranged smirk.

Inspector #13 approached him and began to speak, his chillingly monotonous voice echoing throughout the cell.

"Greetings, Ben Tennyson," he said as he placed the containers full of his insides into a sink. He followed Ben's eyes to the jars. "Petrosapian innards are in high demand on the intergalactic black market. I have had to... adapt to certain circumstances since our last encounter."

In a display of childish spite, Ben began to chuckle, only to result in an intense coughing fit. Tar-like fluids-

Diamondhead's blood.

\- dripped from his lips, making him gargle and gag. But he didn't care.

"You mean after I kicked your butt and ruined your Techadon business?" he retorted.

The inspector scowled, "Yes. Luckily, I and a few other realized that you are a 'gold mine', as you would say."

Ben furrowed his brow in confusion before a harsh wave of pain coursed through him, making him shudder. The alien shook his head.

"In other words, we realized that we can harvest organs from your various alien forms. Consider it a payment of sorts, for destroying my business." Inspector #13 finished, finding joy in seeing the Hero frozen in terror.

The Hero could barely process what he was hearing. The pain was unbearable. But using him as a source of innards to sell to some sick fucks in the black market?

It was messed up. So, so messed up.

Hoping to appeal to the alien's sense of humanity-

Oxymoron.

\- and greed, the boy responded in a rough voice, "I'll die. You'll have no source of income if you keep this up. I'll time out soon and die as a human."

Inspector #13 cackled, making Ben cringe and narrow his eyes.

"So creepy, dude."

That was when it hit him.

He should have timed out ages ago.

"As your feeble human brain failed to comprehend, I deactivated the limiter to your Omnitrix. You are now able to remain transformed for an indefinite amount of time."

Inching closer, the inspector shoved a taydenite scalpel into Diamondhead's shoulder.

Ben hissed.

"Azmuth corrected the flaws of the original Omnitrix and the Ultimatrix, correct?" the inspector asked rhetorically. "I am certain you are aware that any injuries you attain while transformed do not carry over into your human form."

The Hero shook his head in denial. This couldn't be happening.

"You belong to us now, Hero of Heroes. And you can thank our leader for arranging all of this."

Ben coughed.

"I'll be out of here in no time. I'll go for your boss and I'll kick his ass, along with your entire little organization." he vowed, shifting from within his restraints. The struggle only made him scream.

The scientist sighed.


	4. Kevin

_'This is exactly like Star Wars,'_ a part of his mind noted bitterly. _'Fuckin' Tatooine.'_

As he wandered around the swap meet of the barren desert planet they were on, the Osmosian had to internally commend himself for the reference.

The terrain of the desolate rock truly was reminiscent of Anakin Skywalker's home world. There was a multitude of aliens scurrying around them, squeezing between one another to reach the stands of whatever foreign objects were on display for the masses. The various species they slid past (Lenopans, Lepidopterrans, Uxorites, and Gourmands, to name a few) seemed civil enough, if only a tad too curt.

However, they were on a mission. And if they wanted to attract as little attention to themselves as possible, they needed to conceal themselves.

The exploits of Ben Tennyson and his Alien Force had already reached the far ends of the galaxy. The stories of his greatest battles were of high interest on the extranet, with constant buzz surrounding the heroic grandson of the greatest Plumber in the Milky Way galaxy.

But his teammates were not left in the sidelines.

While there were more headlines that blatantly featured the Wielder of the Omnitrix, there were still reporters and news chiefs who wished for a scoop on the team behind the hero.

Gwendolyn Tennyson was the second highest search result on the extranet. The granddaughter of the esteemed Magister Tennyson and the High Magus of Anodyne, Verdona. The less renowned but more powerful one of the cousins, whom had inherited the ability to manipulate mana from the miniscule percentage of Anodite that was in their blood. She was the Hero's oldest companion and the bond between the two cousins was a popular topic.

Although he came very close, Kevin Ethan Levin was the third highest search result when reading about the Alien Force. With his history as the infamous mutant Kevin 11, it came off as a great shock when the word got out of the ex-con joining Ben's team and making his way up the Plumber ranks. The boy, with his Osmosian abilities that were rivaled only by Aggregor, was seen as both a savior and a destroyer; only expected to fight for himself and himself only. Which was why the eventual relationship between himself and Gwendolyn caused much controversy.

But he did not want to open that can of worms.

Moving on, the next highest searches were of Ben's countless ex-girlfriends. Julie Yamamoto, Elena Validus, Ester the Kraaho, and Kai Green.

Following the girls was the newest addition to Ben's team, the Revonnahgander who rose to the top of his class in the Plumbers Academy; Rook Blonko. Ben's partner and trainee, assigned to him after Gwen and Kevin decided to leave Bellwood for Friedkin University. Around this time, an alien society had culminated beneath Ben's hometown. This initially led to some negative reception towards the Hero of Heroes, who pranced around with his alien partner to stop bad guys and save the day. However, as human and alien relations began to evolve and change for the better, the disapproving voices of the people of Earth and beyond slowly began to shift. Everyone began to see Rook as the hyper-competent sidekick and occasional savior to the Hero of Heroes, exactly as he actually was.

That was why they were disguised.

Gwendolyn was in her Lucky Girl alter-ego, her formerly shoulder-length hair reaching her lower back in a long ponytail. Instead of her regular cyan-themed outfit, she wore a black battle suit with purple accents; much like the costume she wore during the Colossus Kevin debacle.

Beside her, Rook stood in a brown cloak with a low-hanging hood. He wore black goggles over his eyes and his Proto-Tech armor was swapped out for Kevin's Rooter suit. Any evidence of affiliation with the Red Spots was ripped off of the outfit, which was easy when considering the true purpose of the Black Ops faction.

In all honesty, Kevin thought, the edgy look didn't fit Rook at all. But who was he to judge?

Meanwhile, he stood before his fellow Plumbers, titanium plating covering his entire person. A similar-looking helmet stood atop his head, diverting any suspicion away from his true identity.

So he hoped.

With waning confidence, the trio made their way to the cars that were on sale. Every so often an alien would send a questioning glance their way, only for Kevin to beckon and silently challenge them.

Gwendolyn rolled her eyes and grabbed the Osmosian, disregarding his sense of personal space that was only really a thing whenever there was too much mana radiating off of her. She quickly shushed his cry of protest.

"We just need something that's fast but cheap." she reminded the boy, who simply gave an eyebrow wiggle in response.

"Don't worry. I got this." he assured his girlfriend, advancing towards the seller, whose back was turned to the trio as he held an audio receiver up to his ear.

The Osmosian, known for his lack of patience and temperament, simply tapped the guy on the shoulder. When the seller responded, Kevin hoped that his ears were deceiving him.

"One second, good sir," a nasally voice mumbled with one finger up. He whispered something under his breath into the device and chuckled, tossing it away. "So, what brings to Servco Argitstix today?"

The Osmosian held his breath as he looked down at his former partner in crime. The one who fucked him over time and time again. The one who could get him out of a bad situation only to pull him into something much worse.

He should've expected it.

As Argit gave that faux-affable grin that all con men were required to learn, the Osmosian gritted his teeth and silently thanked Rook for the spare helmet.

"Give me the cheapest hunka junk you got." he grinded out roughly. Argit raised an eyebrow.

"Jeez. What's up your ass today, man?" the ship dealer shot back. He turned away and beckoned for the other male to follow him.

Beside the Osmosian, his girlfriend grabbed his hand and gave him a look that screamed, 'Don't do anything stupid'. Rook opted out of the exchange and was busy wandering around the plaza. Kevin rolled his eyes at the Revonnahgander and nodded at his Anodite lover, proceeding to follow the porcupine-like alien.

As the con and ex-con made their way down the aisle, Argit decided to try lifting the mood with some banter.

"So…" he drawled awkwardly after several beats of silence. "You some kind of energy-based lifeform or something?"

Even beneath the helmet, Kevin simply gave Argit a blank stare.

"Or like, are you a bounty hunter?" he continued, seemingly ignoring the silent treatment that the Osmosian was giving him. His eyes widened and his ears perked up as he quickly backtracked. "Because if you are, please don't kill me or kidnap me or whatever. I can pay you double- no, _triple_ \- the amount they're giving you-"

"I just. Want. A ship." Kevin cut him off roughly. "Nothing fancy. Just something cheap and fast. That's all I want."

The dealer raised his arms defensively. "Alright, alright."

The two finally closed in on a fairly small cruiser. It was only big enough to carry around five people, and that was only if they squeezed in. It was dingy and shoddy. But looks could be deceiving.

"When I said 'hunka junk', I didn't mean it literally, Argit." groaned the Osmosian.

Suddenly, Argit narrowed his eyes.

"Wait a minute," he began slowly. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"No."

Kevin cursed his inability to mask his voice.

"No, I've definitely heard that voice before." Argit implicitly questioned, staring intently at the armored Osmosian before him.

He glared into the eye holes of the titanium helmet before a spark of recognition shone in his eyes.

Kevin breathed a quiet, "Shit."

"Did you get a haircut-"

The Osmosian wasted no time in throwing the conman across the room, triggering the Argitstix security alarm. Groaning in frustration, the Osmosian quickly sent out a distress signal and began to square off with the waves of Techadon robots that were headed his way.


	5. Wildmutt

Ben's eyes fluttered open as the bright, luminescent light of the lamp above him shone through the darkness, blinding him.

He growled, annoyed by being snatched from the sweet lull of sleep once more.

He did not care about what time it was, nor did he worry about which alien form he was in, if any at all.

It felt like ten thousand needles were being shoved into his body as he breathed. Despite the lack of carryover damage from his transformations, the pain still stuck.

He still felt too light, too empty. His stomach felt like it would fly open at any given moment, and his skin felt saggy against his human frame.

Human, he finally realized.

His puny, default human form.

At that moment, he wasn't Ben 10, the Hero of Heroes.

At that moment he was just Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, a normal, frail, and weak seventeen year old. A boy who was not quite a man, but with numerous victories under his belt.

But he always won with the power of the Omnitrix.

He always won with his friends.

But no one could help him. His team was light years away, at least. They would have found him already if that wasn't the case.

He wanted to think that maybe this time wasn't all that different from the other times he was kidnapped, that maybe he could escape just like he did countless times before.

The numbness in his shoulders and his legs quickly made him reconsider that thought.

He tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his head, pounding against his skull. But then came the sudden cackle of a man he'd clashed with since he was a kid.

His headache increased tenfold.

"Ben Tennyson," an aged scientist greeted with as much of a threatening edge to his voice as he could manage. "Here you are, wrapped up like a present! How thoughtful."

The young hero did not wait for his vision to return to shoot back an insult.

"The only present I'll give you is a major ass-whooping, Animo." he muttered hoarsely, willing his arms to do something.

Throw a punch, access the Omnitrix, hell, just give Animo the middle finger. Anything.

But his arms wouldn't budge and even if they did, he doubted that the restrains would give way for him to do much.

He finally accepted that he was trapped.

Seeing his pathetic display of resistance, the geneticist huffed in annoyance.

"Well, aren't we feeling witty?" he paused before being his hand down to the Omnitrix.

Ben shook his head and began to struggle against the feeling of his watch being manipulated against his will. He couldn't. The Omnitrix was his. It wouldn't work for anyone else, Azmuth made sure of that. He couldn't-

"CALM DOWN!" the scientist roared, making Ben freeze.

But he would not show fear. Fear would show weakness. He was not weak. He was a hero.

He glared at the scientist defiantly, flexing the hand that was connected to his Omnitrix.

"I'm not going to take the watch. However..."

Suddenly, the holographic interface popped up. Ben didn't even notice that Animo was dialing in an alien until the core of his watch peaked out from under the scroll pad.

The Hero's eyes widened in confusion.

Animo flashed a sadistic smirk and pressed down on the core.

When the light died down, Wildmutt was sprawled out on the examination table. The Vulpimancer gave a questioning head tilt to the geneticist.

"I always liked this form best. It can't speak and it's so canine-like." he admitted.

From Wildmutt's smelling, Ben could sense Animo walking away from him. He was grabbing a scalpel from one of the drawers in the corner of the room. In a fit of instinctual fury, Wildmutt snarled and thrashed about from within his restraints. This resulted in his paws dislocating themselves.

The Vulpimancer roared and bared his fangs at the scientist, who rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. Like that's gonna scare me, Tennyson." Animo scoffed, raising the hand that held the scalpel.

Suddenly, Wildmutt's smell vision faded to red as he felt the object begin to push into his head.

In the exact same area where his eyes should have been.

The Vulpimancer cried out agony and continued to twist and turn, almost managing to bite Animo's arm several times. But the scientist quickly tightened his bonds and before he knew it, there were two bloody eye sockets carved onto his head, above his mouth.

The Vulpimancer continued to snarl and whimper in pain.

As this was happening, Animo shook his head. "What a shame. I thought you were more tolerant to pain after the years you spent thwarting my plans."

The scientist then lowered his hand and grabbed something between the Vulpimancer's legs, making him whimper. No. It was so wrong. So wrong. He wouldn't. He couldn't-

The Hero screeched as the blade began to saw into his testicles. He couldn't even see anything anymore. The blood from his new eye sockets began to seep into the gill-like nostrils in his neck, 'blinding' him once more.

That only helped to enhance the pain.

The sharpened metal then pushed past the skin and began to grind in and out of the mound of flesh. After what was only a few minutes but felt like an eternity to the Hero, the scalpel finally sliced through the last remaining threads of blood-stained skin that connected the sack of flesh to its host.

Although he couldn't see the man, Wildmutt could just imagine the triumphant grin that found its way to the scientist's lips. The image became more vivid once Animo began to hum thoughtfully.

He heard the scientist stroll over to him, reigniting his struggles. Animo only slammed something hard against his frontal lobe in response. Then he did it again. And again. If Ben wasn't already weakened from the blood loss, then the abuse to his beaten cranium certainly did the trick.

As his mouth hung open, Animo shoved his testicles into his mouth and quickly snapped it shut.

Ben wanted to vomit. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe.

"Eat," Animo commanded coldly. "Now."

With nothing else to do, the Vulpimancer slowly bit into the detached and bloodied sack of flesh, the slimy texture making even the most feral creature croak in disgust. After several more minutes of chewing, the Hero finally began to swallow his first chunk of meat.

The coppery taste would never leave his mouth.

"Good boy," the scientist mockingly praised. "I hope you enjoyed that. Because that's your only meal."

Wildmutt howled.

"I think I'll just leave you like that for a little while. Maybe you'll learn to be a good dog." Animo sang as he slowly walked out of the room.

Ben didn't think it was possible to cry without eyes.


	6. Rook

From under the low-hanging hood of his Rooter-based disguise, Rook strolled through the crowds of aliens that were gathered around the various tents and stands that were propped up beside one another. The Revonnahgander assumed a loose yet defensive stance, untrusting of the various species that he slid past.

Distrustful towards the ones who could have taken his partner.

The young Magister's hand shakily curled into a fist, threatening to crush itself in a fit of tranquil fury.

The feline-like man slowly breathed in and out some, attempting to quell the fire that burned deep in his soul.

He was angry.

Perhaps at Ben, for allowing himself to get kidnapped.

Perhaps at the universe, for whatever reason he could conjure.

Or, most likely, perhaps he was infuriated with himself and his inability to defend his partner.

As the self-proclaimed protector of the Omnitrix, it was his sworn duty to do just that; counter any forces that threatened to destroy both the device and the device's wielder. And he'd succeeded in doing so many times over.

With Gwendolyn and Kevin gone and with the rest of the Alien Force disbanded, Rook had to admit that he was doing his job surprisingly well for a by-the-book rookie. Within the first month or so of their partnership, Rook managed to save Ben a little over ten times each week.

Ben would never admit it, but Rook could tell that he was grateful.

The two boys had each other's backs. They knew they could rely on each other. And once Ben's ego died down and he began to see Rook as an equal, his record of life-saving began to catch up to the Revonnahgander's own.

Which was why it was unthinkable to think that they lost the battle against the mercenaries that were sent after them.

After a year of rescuing Ben from the clutches of their hundreds of enemies, Rook was sad to say that he had grown cocky over their supposed invincibility.

They were the heroes. They always won.

Whether it be against a rogue Chronosapien, a power-hungry Chimeran, a bratty Incursian, or a disillusioned Galvan, they always made it out alive and Ben would just save the day through the power of the Omnitrix.

Not this time.

This time, they were all taken by surprise. This time, they were overwhelmed and conquered. This time, Ben's Omnitrix actually failed them and their ire just wasn't enough-

Rook winced at the ache in his knuckles and the sizeable dent in the wall that most certainly was not there before.

The Revonnahgander blinked and brought his gaze down to his hand, which was bent awkwardly and twitching.

Oh.

He did that.

Ouch.

In an attempt to force his fingers back into their regular placement, the Revonnahgander flexed his extremeties, wincing at the small crackles that came from his knuckles.

Biting his lip, he glanced back up and looked ahead.

That was when he met the visor of Sevenseven.

The Magister's eyes widened in shock as he jumped back, avoiding the titanium foot that was launched at him. Narrowing his eyes, he grabbed the limb and swung it hard over his shoulder.

"Where is the Rust Bucket?" he asked with a roar. He looked into the crater that he dug with Sevenseven's face as he asked again, more forcefully, "Where is Ben?!"

When he received no response, the Revonnahgander opted to swing his fists blindly at the armored Sotoraggian beneath him, bashing the agent's head into the ground. With each jab at the Sotoraggian, the armor began to crack more and more.

Rook only backed down once he heard Sevenseven's screeches for mercy, at least, in his native tongue.

"'Have mercy'?" he echoed incredulously, seething. He grabbed the bounty hunter by the front of his armor. "You attacked my team, kidnapped our leader, and stole our ship!"

Still making grotesque sounds, the Sotoraggian squirmed and begged.

Rook never felt such unadulterated anger before. He pulled back his fist once more, but was interrupted by the beeps that came from his Plumber's Badge.

It was a distress signal from Kevin.

Growling, the Revonnahgander began to take calming breaths.

"You are coming with me." he ordered.

* * *

Kevin panted as he was squeezed to death by a Techadon robot for the second time in his life. The gloved hand was tightening quickly, causing his current armor to begin to chip away.

The Osmosian quickly shifted his hands into a large hammers and shifted. This caused the nanomechanical tech of the bot to relent just enough to give him leg room. The Osmosian's legs began to dangle and he kicked hard. As the soles of his foot made contact with the cool surface of the automaton, the Osmosian began to vibrate and was promptly dropped to the floor.

He scrambled to his feet once more and felt his breath hitch in his throat as he made his way to the ship, ignoring Argit's moans of indignation.

Suddenly, he felt something prod at the back of his neck.

The Osmosian groaned as he began to sway from side to side, the pins of the porcupine-like alien protruding from the part of his armor that was shed away.

Faintly, he could hear the conman's footsteps approaching him, but he could do nothing to retaliate against the fist that collided with his stomach.

"Kevin, Kevin, Kevin," the con tutted, looming over the Osmosian as he took a knee. He could no longer stand. He couldn't even lift his head up high enough to meet the con's eyes. "Did you really think that you could outsmart me?"

The Osmosian growled softly.

"Can it, roadkill."

Then came the onslaught of attacks that, though coming from a physically inferior being like Argit, somehow managed to incapicate him.

The assistance of the Argitstix Security androids probably played a part in it.

As his head hung low, Argit scoffed.

"Pathetic. Take him away."

The Osmosian braced himself for the sudden lunge of one of the Techadon bots, but nothing came.

Everything was spinning. He felt hazy.

He vaguely felt furry arms wrap around his waist, but he paid it no mind.

Even as the Revonnahgander spoke incomprehensible words to him about a new lead.


End file.
